Repairing reach-in coolers is a relatively common job for any refrigeration technician. Most food-service businesses will have this style cooler in various case designs. The mechanical refrigeration systems used on these cases are relatively similar, but there are a few different configurations that could be encountered. This article will focus on a popular configuration, which consists of an air-cooled system that uses a fractional horsepower compressor, a capillary tube metering device, and a mechanical constant cut-in temperature controller.
This type of cooler uses a small quantity of refrigerant and is considered critically charged, meaning the exact amount of refrigerant circulating throughout the system is critical to its operation. Because of this, attaching a set of refrigeration gauges to the system while troubleshooting should be the last step. Much about the system’s operation can be determined without the initial use of a pressure gauge.